Ski and Snowboard - Poland 09/10 season (updated: 10/11 season)

Merged thread:
Ski and Snowboard - Poland 10/11 season

The time has come, one slope (In Szczyrk) officially fired up the drag lift and prepared the slope for the first day of trading.

It's forecast to dump loads of fluffy white stuff over the next few weeks, so we can look forward to more reports opening next week :)

A few new developments for the new season, a new 6 seater in Szklarska Poręba, a new 4 seater in Wisła for a start!

Where are people heading this year? What new ride have you treated yourself to?

Look forward to bumping into you on the slopes :)

When's my lesson, you bastard? :(

Haha i went for a drive in the mountains through the snow, all in aid of finding a suitable spot for you :)
When are you going to jump in the car and head on down??!!

Just when i was thinking of rekindling last years thread up pops a new one, haven't given much thought to boarding this year. Perhaps now is the time to sort something out.

Had the first snow fall here last night only about 1cm, don't think there's any on the local resorts as yet.

I was waiting for you to start up the thread for the new season, but got impatient :)


Which resorts? a few are going to be ready for next weekend :)

Maybe we should have a PF snowboarding meeting :)

How long does it take you to drive from Wroclaw to Biesko-Biala? I'd be up for it one weekend...

I skied in Wisla a couple of years ago, and I just was not impressed, there were a lot of building work going on. Has the area got significantly better?

I usually break in the legs at zieleniec. Maybe there snow there i dont know, i was in the mountains a couple of days ago and there was hardly any thats as far as my knowledge goes at the moment.


I would probably be up for that, it would need to be fairly local, perhaps a czech resort?

If it's complete-beginner friendly, I'd be up for it as well :)

We could go to Czarna Gora
czarnagora.com.pl/
ive been there in the summer but never in the winter im totally bored of Zieleniec and all resorts will have nursery slopes.

If you or anyone else fancies that i'll meet you down there anytime, preferably a week day to beat the cues.

They have made some investmnents on the last couple of years, currently there is about 4-5 chair lifts, which simply out numbers all other local areas. I'm yet to snowboard in Wisła, but will update in the new couple of weeks.


Well in the summer i did it in about 4 hours, its a nice 2 lane motorway up to Katowice :)


Sounds like a plan :) but Harracov isn't very beginner friendly. How about Špindlerův Mlýn. i haven't been but I've read it quite good. I would be up for Czarna Gora also :)

Hears two pictures taken today at Biały Krzyz. Poor conditions with about 10cm of snow, but better than doing nothing :)

Spindle's a good resort ive been there a couple of times, its big enough to spend a couple of days to see everything, theres three separate areas fairly small with a decent board park, they also have a 15m big air kicker its a real back breaker.

Not to beginner friendly i would say.


Ive heard bad things about Karpacz so have no intention of going there, Zieleniec is OK just to small, they have nursery slopes.

I can only pop out for a day at a time in local resorts so Czarna Gora would be perfect for me, just had a look at the piste map and there seems to be only one run worth hitting, in any case if Delphi is coming down id be happy to help him out for a bit, try and get him up and running without too much pain.

If anybody's interested post here and we'll sort something out hey.

about 6 inches of fresh snow here and its dumping hard. Local ski resorts will be very happy.

The same down south... we had similar quantities :)

I would love to go snowboarding in Poland. I'm located in Germany, and of course the Alps are just 2 hrs. south by car, but snowboarding somewhere different would be cool.

If your used to the Alps dont expect anything exciting here except the prices. Ive only boarded Gubalowka in Zakopane (highest central European resort) so cant really comment too much on that. In my local area of Dolnoslaskie theres nothing over 1600 meters.

Friday/Saturday will see the opening of many resports from Wisła - Szczykr - Szklarska Poręba - Białka Tatrzańska

Conditions forcast be be very good, due to yesterdays dump of snow..... to be topped up friday with another 10cm forcast :)

Anyone heading out this weekend? I definatly will be sitting the slopes on sat/sun :)

I went snowboarding in Zakopane last year at the end of Febuary, it was my first time on a board and I've started to follow the scene a bit more now.

I was thinking of living in Zakopane for the season for the 11/12 season to be able to board for a while.

I know that people would usually rather do this in Chamonix or some other place with better snow etc but Poland appeals to me because I could do it on the cheap. My girlfriend also studies at Kielce university so we could meet up a lot more often than if I flew out to Poland every month.

Does this sound realistic? i.e. is it possible?

I'd rent an apartment and use money that I will save to pay for passes and food etc.

Are there any better places to stay? I liked Zakopane whilst I was there. The people seemed nice enough compared to other places in Poland, food was great and I enjoyed myself.

I do speak a bit of Polish which I'm working on at the moment anyway because of my girls family.

What do you guys think? Is is a dumb ass dream or not?

I did three ski seasons, worked all of them as a chef, the standard is accommodation usually shared and a seasonal ski pass. We also had half price drinks in most bars, thats European Alps though and with the big ski/snowboard companies. Brilliant times were had, some of the guys i worked with did like 10 seasons back to back, some are still at it 11 years on. Its very addictive.

Cant think of many worse resorts to do a season than Zakopane to be honest, but sounds like it would suit yourself.

Maybe check out some of the big holiday companies see if they have hotels or chalets in Zakopane and whether they hire seasonal staff.

I do not think it is a dumb idea, but of course I can not tell you wether it is realistic or not though, although I am sure you have a better idea about your own situation than I have. All I will say is that if you have the financial resources to make all of this happen, then of course you should pursue your dreams for a while. (You only live once!)

Out of curiosity what are some big ski/snowboard operators? How long is a season there?


Why?

I wasn't particularly thinking about working but rather saving and going for an extended holiday. I was thinking about taking £1k per month spent which would hopefully be enough?!?

Forgive my ignorance.

Ski World
Thomson
Crystal
Mark Warner
First choice - theres loads.


seasons usually starts around the 1st week of December and end around the 4th week of April, depends on the resorts snow record.


In terms of Snowboarding area its small, you could board the entire resort in a few days. Some of the big french resorts take weeks to see everything, the three valleys for example. I hear the cues are a nightmare. Zakopane is a city near the mountains where you can snowboard if you want, its not a ski/snowboard resort as such. Unless youre really lucky you will have a massive walk or bus ride every morning just to get up the mountain. In the Alps you can sometimes board right to your front door, unstrap then walk in.

Zakopane would hold too many distractions for me, i was always interested in the Snowboarding mainly, you simply wont get better than the big Alp resorts. When youre spending a lot of time on the mountain the pistes and lift systems become very important, Zakopane simply does not have them in abundance.


Thats up to you, personally i would get bored of that plus when i did my seasons i didnt have any money so it worked out well. When you work at a hotel or something you have lots of friends to go boarding with, nothing like having a few buddies all shite hot at snowboarding to go ripping up the mountain with.

Anything is possible if you want it enough.
Contact the people below they seem to be on the ground in the Zakopane area -

Lolozabojat,
Zakinfo

I have been skiing in the Zakopane area many times over the years, although I have seen the horeca industry sprout from the ground the skiing opportunities are very limited, a lot of the ski lifts are run by families and they are satisfied with the level of income. Areas like Bialka tatrzansksa are growing, and the infrastructure is getting better, but along way away from Austria, France or Italy.

In answer to your question, your money would go a lot further in Poland and may allow an extended holiday for you.

Well maybe I should only go for a month or so.

From what Wrocław boy says I think it may be better just to have a month or so over there. I don't want to pay money to be able to stay in Zakopane only to find that I'm bored with the slopes after a month.

Thanks so much for the advice guys.

If any of you guys are looking for a inexpensive place to stay in Bialka tatrzanska here is a link: pkt.pl/s/bialka_tatrzanska/1769617/babiarz_anna_jan_pokoje.html

We put one of our group up in this place, they are a very nice family, you can walk to the lifts from the house in about 6-8 mins and the price was very reasonable 40 PLN per night 15 PLN breakfast and 15 PLN evening meal, so 75 PLN per day all inc.